Linger
by KamikazeKoiji
Summary: A mysterious demon is appearing True Cross Town and it's up to the Exwires to find out what it wants. Will the events that unfold bring Rin and Shiemi closer together? Or will they drive them further apart?


_**Author's note;**_

_Hey there~! c:  
>I had the idea for this story when just randomly reading some Ao no Exorcist fanfiction, and felt suddenly enthused to write it down and make something out of it…<br>I hope you like it at any rate :D_

_Rin x Shiemi fluff, set shortly after the "fun" camping trip when the Exwires find out who exactly Rin is.  
><em>_**/disclaimer/  
><strong>__Sadly, no, I don't own them xD_

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><p><em><strong>Linger.<strong>_

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><p><em><em> None of the warnings he had gained upon deciding to become an exorcist could have prepared him for the distinct chill in the atmosphere between he and his friends once they discovered the truth about him. It had only been about two weeks since the incident with Amaimon in the woods but it felt like an eternity to Rin… and he'd just been getting used to being around people who cared about him. Now most of them – especially Konekomaru and Shiemi – seemed to be incredibly wary of him. The fact that they had all bore witness to his destructive power probably hadn't helped much in his favour, either.

As much as it bugged him, Rin was already kind of used to the feeling that no one liked him; it'd been the same during his earlier years in school. Oh, those teachers who called him a demon couldn't have been more right! Rin could deal with their wariness (or maybe hatred in Bon's case. He could never be sure) but the thing that cut him the deepest was the fear that seemed to keep Shiemi from being her usual self around him. And he'd actually felt they'd been getting somewhere, too. He knew that he couldn't expect things to go back to normal straight away – that would take time, and plenty of it seeing as he'd need to prove to them that just because he was Satan's son, it did _not_ make him in any way like Satan. Thankfully none of the recent events had changed the way Yukio and Shura treated him… but then, they had already known what he was.

The extra training with Shura had meant even less time in his usual classes and Rin was still undecided if this was a good or a bad thing. The time spent in training meant less time for the wary eyes of his classmates to watch him uncertainly, but it also meant that he didn't have enough contact with them to prove them wrong about him.

Sighing to himself, the black haired teen pushed himself up into a sitting position on his bed and held his head in his hands. He hadn't been able to switch his brain off at all lately. A lot of nights had been spent tossing and turning in bed, just worrying about how he could make things better. How to assure Shiemi that he was still the same Rin that she'd met that day in her garden. How to stop Bon glaring at him – he did tend to glare a lot though – and how to get Shima to joke around with him again. The truth had been bound to have come out sooner or later but despite the few perks to it being revealed – like not having to hide his tail anymore – Rin had been hoping for a longer period of time where he felt safe… and wanted.

"Urgh." He moaned, the terrified look that Shiemi had given him just after she'd found out what he was flashing through his mind again.

"_What's wrong Rin?_"

He remained silent for a few seconds, refusing to move his head from his hands. "It's… it's… nothing, Kuro." His familiar's voice sounded again telepathically in his head shortly after the words left his mouth.

"_Rin._" He lifted his head and found Kuro sitting to his right. He reached out his hand and petted the cat sidhe's soft fur.

"You know I'm not cut out for figuring out the answers to my problems in my head." He cast a look over at his brother's bunk on the other side of the room where Yukio was sound asleep. "That's more Yukio's thing than mine." Kuro padded along the bed closer to him and nuzzled his face into Rin's side. "I just… hm. Kuro, let's go up on the roof. I need to clear my head." He said, giving the cat one last pat before standing up and walking toward the door.

"_Ooooh, play! Let's play Rin!_" Kuro leapt from the bed and bounded out of the twin's dormitory room ahead of his owner. Rin couldn't suppress a grin at his familiar's eagerness as he reached for the wooden training sword which was balanced against the doorframe of their room. With one last glance at his brother's sleeping form, he pulled the door closed softly behind him and charged up the stairs to the roof after Kuro.

_**x – x – x **_

He always felt better after a spar with Kuro in the night air. Something to take his mind off things. He could understand the ways in which he needed to move to avoid being struck by his now full-sized familiar, and how he needed to wield his weapon to deflect an attack much more easily than he could even begin to comprehend an answer to the questions plaguing him. When the pair of them had tired themselves out, they climbed up to the tower on the top of the dorm building, a place they'd found had the best view of True Cross Town. It wasn't long before Rin felt himself drifting off and before he could make a move back to his room, he was flat out on his back with Kuro curled up on his stomach.

He only woke up when the rays of the sun shone full in his face. Coming to rather groggily, he yawned and stretched before sitting up properly. He looked around. Kuro was nowhere in sight. He rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes and grabbed his wooden sword before getting up and beginning his descent down to his and Yukio's room.

Yukio wasn't there when he got back. Scratching his head, he turned to find their alarm clock to see what time it was. _Crap._ He thought when he saw it was 11am. _I'm late!_ Scrabbling around for his uniform and satchel, the messy haired boy ran from the room as fast as he could before realising he'd forgotten his cram-school key. It may have been a Saturday and regular school wasn't on, but the cram-school seemed intent on taking up their free time in order to prepare them for their exams.

Placing the key in the door and unlocking it, Rin moved through frantically looking for his classroom. _What lesson am I even doing today?_ He wondered as he ran, heading for their usual room. After what seemed like far too long, he pushed open the door and found all of the eyes of his classmates drift to him. Shura was at the front of the class – presumably teaching, but then, it was Shura after all, and when her gaze met his she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Ah, Rin-kun. So nice of you to finally join us!" She said, leaning back on her chair and placing her feet on the desk. "And what, may I ask, kept you from attending on time today?"

"I, uh…" He started, glancing quickly at the class and then looking back at the floor. "I fell asleep on the roof again, and no one bothered to wake me up so I just kind of overslept." He looked up at Shura, bowing his head to show that he was truly sorry.

"Well, hurry up and sit down. I'm teaching y'know." She said lazily before proceeding to ask what part of the task the other pupils were up to. Rin took his usual place at the front of the classroom, not bothering to turn around to see where Shiemi was sat. She used to save him a seat or sit next to him, but now… He sighed, pulling out his books from the satchel. The lesson itself passed relatively quickly, and Rin didn't get told off for dosing off in class for once. When the bell sounded, signifying the end of the lesson and the time that the students were designated for lunch Rin packed up his things slowly, looking up when Izumo scurried past him (she wasn't really acting any different since she found out his secret) and smiling slightly at Bon, Shima and Konekomaru. Shima hesitantly waved and looked away, where as Bon just made a growling sound and Konekomaru jumped slightly. Rin sighed. At least they weren't ignoring him. He began to walk out of the classroom when Shura casually piped up.

"Don't forget, I want you back here after lunch Okumura. We're going to be doing some of our special training again."

"Uh, yeah. Sure… Whatever." Rin said, walking out of the door. He was about to go and find Yukio – and complain to him for not coming to find him and wake him up when he noticed he was missing from his bed – when a small, but instantly recognisable voice squeaked behind him.

"Rin!" He allowed himself a brief moment to smile before turning around, with what he hoped was a reasonably neutral expression. _Shiemi!_

"Hi." He said, smiling gently, trying not to show his pointed canines too much incase she was reminded of the way he looked when harnessing his demonic power. She slowly returned his smile but didn't say anything more for a moment. When she did start to speak, she sounded a little nervous and unsure of herself. Rin was reminded of how she was back when they'd first met.

"I-I… uh." She stammered, her green gaze darting from Rin's eyes to the floor, to the walls and then to her hands.

"Do you want to take a walk?" He asked, the smile still playing about his lips. "Here, let me carry your stuff for you." He said, holding out an arm to take her things.

"I, oh… I mean… Yes, and thank you… Rin." She said quietly, allowing the dark haired boy to take her things from her. They began to walk, and Rin's tail started to wag to and fro in a similar fashion to a dogs. "You can make that move all on its own?" She asked, watching it swing through the air.

"Yep," He started, stopping walking for a second before making his tail tap her on her shoulder and then when she turned to look at the spot in which it had been, tickle her nose. She giggled before swotting at it. "See?" he asked. "Completely harmless."

"Hmm."

He looked at her for a moment – she was gazing at the floor once more – before speaking up again. "Uh, Shiemi? About… This whole 'me being a demon' thing…" He trailed off, letting his own gaze drop to the floor before chancing a glance up at her. Sure enough, she was watching him intently now. Out of habit, a hand shot up to sheepishly scratch at the back of his neck and Rin's brilliantly blue eyes darted around the empty corridor as he started speaking again.

"I… I don't want you to be afraid of me." A slight gasp could be heard from the girl. "I'm still the same Rin that I was before. This," – he indicated to his tail, making it wag again – "doesn't change me. You got to know me when I had this, and I'm no different now than I was before." He trailed off, sighing before continuing. "I meant what I said about defeating Satan. I hate him. I'm nothing like him!" His voice rose slightly and he toned it down quickly. "I just… I can't. No, I-"

"Rin?"

"Y-yes?"

"I'm not afraid of you." She whispered.

"But if you're not then why have you-"

"It's… it's shocking, that's all. The others… They all felt the same. Especially Bon, I think."

"Well it was a shock for me when I found out." He mumbled, pouting slightly.

"I… uh, I imagine it was." She said, finding his eyes with her own. If he didn't know any better Rin might have guessed the slight watery look in them meant that she was on the verge of tears – either that or it was hay fever – and he felt the breath he'd been holding without realising slip out. "It was scary to see you like that." She continued, looking away again. "Yuki-chan and Shura-san said that you lost control. That you were being consumed by your flames. And that was why you looked so…." She struggled for choice of words before finding one she felt fitted the context; "devilish." She finished, frowning slight before looking at Rin to see how he'd react. He frowned too, thinking suddenly of all the training hours he'd been clocking up with Shura learning to control his flames. It was true; he didn't know how to use them to his advantage and just acted on a power formed from his own fear on that night.

"I couldn't help it." He said quietly, knowing it sounded like a terrible excuse.

"I know."

"I've been working on it though." He said, smiling slightly. "I can control the heat of my flames and large bursts of them… I'm still working on the smaller ones though." He smiled gently again, and Shiemi turned away from him, as if to carry on walking down the corridor. "Shiemi?"

She took a shake-y breath before looking back at him, her big green eyes welling up now. "Rin!" She said, in her usual squeak which accompanied her voice when she was upset. "I… I don't want to lose you!"

He froze, just for a second as the last sentence to leave his friend's mouth processed in his brain. _She doesn't want to lose… me?_ Acting on impulse – or at least, that is what he was going to claim he was acting on if questioned later – he grabbed her hand, pulling her in closer to him until he was able to wrap his arms around her properly. She buried her head into his shoulder, presumably to make the fact she was crying less obvious to him and he let his lips rest against her shirt collar, roughly at the spot where her shoulder met her neck. After staying like that for a moment, he decided he had to say something.

"Shiemi…" He started, hugging her tighter as he started to talk. "You're not going to lose-"

"Uh, Okumura. Moriyama?" A third – and slightly unwelcome in Rin's opinion – voice joined their conversation. Rin looked up, about to glare at whomever dare disturb this moment (he had been wanting to hold Shiemi like that for a while now too!) when he spotted Shura. Freezing on the spot, he awkwardly let go of Shiemi and turned to face his swordsmanship mentor and sheepishly started rubbing at his neck again. "I thought I said go to lunch?" She asked, aiming a pointed look in the boy's direction.

"Shiemi and I were just going, actually." He said, looking at Shura and letting the slightest hint of a glare touch his facial features.

"Good." She said. "And don't forget that you are to come back and meet me here so we can work on your 'special training' afterward."

"Yes, Shura." He said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her.

"You mean 'yes ma'am.'" She corrected him, tapping his forehead lightly with a few rolled up pieces of paper.

"What? No I do- Fine, yes ma'am." He said, this time rolling his eyes as Shura ushered them toward the exit and then happily walked off upon depositing them outside. Rin turned to Shiemi with a bit of an embarrassed look playing about with his features. She giggled, shaking her head. "Sorry about that." He managed to say before they both started laughing.

_**x – x – x**_

They decided that they would put their stuff in Rin and Yukio's dorm, just to make sure that it stayed safe whilst they went out looking for food. Shiemi suggested taking a walk through the park on their way to get dinner, and Rin was happy to oblige her. They walked steadily, taking their time and chatting ever more easily with each other. It was almost as if they were back to normal.

When they were leaving the park, Rin stopped for a second and ducked behind a tree, earning him a really confused look from the petite blonde girl stood a few feet away on the path. He pulled at his shirt as he tried to hide his tail again by coiling it around his body like he used to – if they were going into town, there was no sense in getting any weird looks from people for 'wearing' a tail. Rin much preferred to avoid that.

"Rin? Where'd you go?" Shiemi asked, wandering behind the tree and catching sight of Rin buttoning his shirt back up. "Or should I say what were you doing?" She asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"I was hiding my tail." He said simply, buttoning up the last button and straightening his baggy shirt again.

"How do you hide it?" She asked, a puzzled expression crossing her face, one which Rin couldn't help but mentally appreciate how cute she looked wearing it.

"I'll show you later," He said with a wink. "C'mon. We need to get food, and I need to get back before slave-driver Shura comes looking for me." He grinned, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out from behind the tree. Once back on the path, he noticed he was still holding on to the girl's wrist and fought with his conscience for a moment about whether or not to let go, when the blonde produced an answer for him. Tentatively, she pushed his fingers from around her wrist with her free hand and then grabbed his hand with the one that had been just below his grip on her wrist moments before, lacing their fingers and letting them swing. It was a bold move on her part, one that Rin could appreciate the guts it would have taken for her to make. Shiemi was shy and clumsy, and that was part of the reason Rin found her so attractive.

They walked into town and quickly found a ramen shop, which would act as a quick lunch until later on. He suggested going to eat their food sat back in the park, and Shiemi nodded quickly in agreement. The pair found a spot under a tall tree and decided to sit down in the shade that it provided. They ate their lunches in a companionable silence – so different to the silences that seemed to accompany Rin lately – and before long found that they'd both finished. He glanced over at her and allowed himself a moment to just take in her features, and the dappled patterns forming on her face thanks to the canopy of leaves above their heads. He smiled, just watching her look into the distance.

"Have you seen a bin around here?" She asked, her brow furrowing in confusion as she turned her head to face him.

"I don't think so…" He started, and then paused for a second, suddenly realising where he'd seen one earlier. "There'll be one at the exit." He said with some certainty, nodding as if to prove the fact that he knew he was right. Shiemi looked at him sceptically for a second before placing the rubbish in her lap and leaning back against the tree. Rin was sat with his knees up, elbows leaning on top of his knees, and for a moment he debated whether to lean back and join her or remain sitting like this. Before long, curiosity – or whatever the strange feeling that compelled him to move was – got the better of him and he slowly leant back until he felt his spine come into contact with the tree. He looked around, for some reason expecting her to move him away from him, but she didn't. Their arms were touching ever-so-slightly when they moved and each time they came into contact, a warm prickle of something like electricity spread across Rin's skin. He swallowed and chewed his lip before leaning up from the tree again and facing partially away from Shiemi.

"Rin, what's the matter?" She asked, watching him curiously. He was pulling at his shirt and seemed to be working something out of it. Eventually, his tail made an appearance and her question was answered. He leaned back against the tree as if he hadn't even moved and grinned.

"That's better. It was beginning to itch." He said cheerfully, moving his hands above his head and stretching out his body. Shiemi giggled when she caught sight of his tail; seeing that it was as straight as a pole. "What?" He asked, a nervous kind of grin playing about his facial features.

"Nothing…" She said, a slight blush tainting her pale cheeks. Rin took a deep breath and quickly decided to tease her.

"Oh… Checking me out were you?" He asked, flashing her his most mischievous grin. She reacted just as he'd anticipated; initial shock, a deeper blush and then she was pushing at him, trying to make him lose balance and fall over.

"N-no!" She said, trying to sound serious but letting a few giggles escape. Rin started to laugh too, not having to try too hard to stop her attempts to overthrow him. She stopped a few seconds later, still smiling brightly. "And so what if I was checking you out? Maybe I liked what I saw." Rin was rather taken aback by this, he looked at her for a moment in disbelief. _Did Shiemi really just say that?_ Before she pushed him one last time and he fell over and rolled onto his back.

He lay there for a split-second in shock, and then made up his mind about his next move. Not one to let her get away with such a tactic, Rin used his tail to his advantage. He hooked it around her waist and tugged hard, successfully managing to pull the smaller girl on top of him. After letting out a slight huff of annoyance, Shiemi started to laugh and before long the pair of them were reduced to a fit of giggles on the floor.

When their laughter started to die away, Rin became aware of exactly how close they were. Due to the way that he had fallen over, and the angle he had pulled her on top of him, her torso was pressing into his. His laughter stopped as he looked up at her with serious blue eyes. Had it been this hot out here earlier? Shiemi quietened and seemed to become aware of their proximity to each other too. Her eyes flickered from his gaze to his lips and back up again a few times, and he tilted his head slightly to the side. _Well, this is new._ Rin let the smallest cocky smile he could manage touch his mouth.

"So, still liking what you see?"

She was quiet for a moment before letting a smile light up her face.

Suddenly, her head was leaning in closer to his, and their foreheads were touching. An 'oh' sound seemed to escape Rin and she moved her head twice, rubbing their noses together gently and he let his eye lids flutter shut. When he opened them briefly again, Shiemi's eyes were closed, her lips mere centimetres away from his. Her breathing seemed to have sped up, and it was coming out in little puffs against his mouth. Her head seemed to drop a little bit lower and her lips brushed his…

"Okumura!"

Rin just about had time to let a very audible groan escape his mouth when he felt Shiemi being dragged away from him, and someone grabbing and pulling on his ear.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" He exclaimed as the interrupter pulled him away from Shiemi, dragging him to his feet. "Hey! What's the problem?"

"What's the problem? What's the _problem_?" Bon's voice sounded from behind him, and the tugging on his ear moved him further away from Shiemi.

"Eeeeeee!" Rin found himself exclaiming as the force being applied to his ear grew greater.

"What were you doing to Moriyama-san?" Bon all but roared, letting go of Rin's ear but turning him to face him. Rin nearly flinched when he saw his expression, he'd seen him mad before but it really looked like he was going to kill someone at the moment. And unfortunately for Rin, it looked like that someone was going to be him. Shiemi was stood near Shima looking incredibly sheepish.

"It… it…" She stuttered, looking at the ground and blushing bright red.

"Did he hurt you Shiemi?" Bon asked, growling.

"No. He didn't." Shiemi said, finally looking up from the ground. "I was fine until you came along." She said, some emotion tainting her usually calm and soft voice. Rin blinked. She sounded almost angry, frustrated. Was she as annoyed by the interruption as he was?

"Then what were you doing on top of him?" Shima asked, a slightly curious edge entering his voice.

"We were… Well. I don't know." She said, frowning and looking at the ground again. "It just sort of happened and I wasn't in any danger. Rin's no different than he was before you know!" She said angrily, glaring at everyone before turning to walk back to the twin's dorm to pick up her stuff. No one attempted to stop her.

"Well, Okumura? Is that true?" Bon quizzed, a dangerous looking glare on his face.

"Yes." Rin said simply, making a feeble attempt to remove Bon's vice like grip from his ear.

"How did it happen? _Did _anything happen?" Shima asked more animatedly now, apparently curious if Rin had got any girl action. Rin frowned and pouted.

"I don't know. We were talking and… we were messing about and then it just happened. And no, nothing happened. You got here in time to make sure it didn't."

"Aw, gutted, man. I'dve had you tell me if Moriyama-san was as good a kisser as she looks." Shima said.

"Shima! You're supposed to be a monk!" Konekomaru piped up. Rin hadn't consciously noticed the smallest member of the trio, stood about as far away from Rin as he could manage without looking rude. Bon released Rin's ear but continued to glare.

"You best be careful, Okumura." He said, moving off slowly. Konekomaru bowed his head slightly to Rin before scampering off.

"Hey, good luck for next time." Shima said with a wink before starting to walk after his other two friends. Once they were gone, Rin turned to the tree and leant on it, his forehead resting on the rough bark. "Urgh!" He moaned. Those three had the worst timing on the planet. He'd been so close to something finally happening with Shiemi and then they'd gone and ruined it. He stayed leaning on the tree a while longer until he remembered Shura's request at the end of their last lesson and letting another groan escape him, Rin trudged off to probably train with more candles.

_**x – x – x**_

Shura was remarkably chipper in comparison to the mood that Rin walked into the training centre in. For once, was all happy and smiles and it was really getting on Rin's nerves. She kept on asking him what was wrong with him, and whenever one of her questions was met with a glare or a hasty "nothing!" from Rin, she seemed to grow more and more determined to find out.

"Did something happen to little lover boy?" She teased, setting out three more candles for Rin to practise on.

"Shut up, Shura." He said, frowning before concentrating as hard as he could to light the correct candles.

"Did Moriyama-san turn you down?" A wave of anger pulsed through Rin and he watched as another three candles burst into bright blue flames. Rin groaned in agitation and punched the ground, bringing his forehead to rest on floor for a while. He could hear Shura getting up and moving closer to him.

"How the hell do you expect me to do well at training when you're throwing me off? Making me angry isn't going to let me control my flames any better!" He bit out, gesturing the growing collection of molten candle wax that Shura was kicking into a pile. Not really to his surprise, she laughed. She set out three more and walked round to where he was sat before patting him on the shoulder.

"Loosen up a bit." She said, ignoring the growl that emitted from Rin's throat. "You'll learn. You'll be able to control your flames as you want to soon." Rin made a 'humph' sound and folded his arms across his chest defensively.

"What's the matter with you anyway?" He pouted.

"Whadd'ya mean?"

"You're so cheerful. Anyone would swear you'd rolled into work drunk."

Shura laughed before going to sit down by the bag of candles. Rin frowned at her, normally a comment like that would have at least earned him a smack to the head from his mentor. "Haha! Maybe I have something to look forward to for once." She said ominously.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Here, they're ready." She said, gesturing toward the candles she'd arranged moments before. "You're trying too hard to control them. Relax a bit more, focus on your breathing, and try again."

Rin sucked in a big breath and turned to face the candles. He exhaled and closed his eyes, and then on the next in breath he thought about the wicks of the two end candles glowing with a small blue flame. He breathed out again and willed the wicks to catch fire and sure enough they did. Slightly shocked, Rin's concentration gave way to a huge sense of pride as he turned to Shura to see if she approved. He grinned widely at her. _Let her find a fault with me now!_

As soon as the though consciously entered his mind, Shura raised her eyebrows as if in challenge and the two neat little flames suddenly roared and consumed the candles, reducing them to another pile of molten wax. Rin groaned in frustration, slumping to the floor and staring up at the ceiling of the small class room they were practising in. "Damn it! I was so close!"

"Better." Shura said, kicking the remains of the candles with the toe of her boot. "You just need to concentrate more on the candles than on proving me wrong next time."

"Urgh. Give me one more try." He said, sitting bolt upright and focusing on the spot where he knew Shura would lay the next three candles. She let out an exasperated sigh and scratched her head.

"One more go then." She said, setting the candles up. "Our little hour together is almost up y'know. You better not keep me from my free afternoon."

"I won't, quit worrying." He muttered concentrating on his breathing before he attempted to light the next set.

They trained for another fifteen minutes before Shura called it a day. Rin looked over to where she was sat by the wall and groaned. "Why? We're finally getting somewhere!"

"I don't want you complaining that I've worked your little brain too hard." She said simply, shrugging. "That and I'm kind of hungry. It's about time I was going." She cast a fed up look in Rin's direction. "Rest up, you're right, we were getting somewhere today. We can get _further_ tomorrow." And with that she stood up and left the room. Rin rolled his eyes before getting to his feet. He stretched, not noticing when he'd been sat on the ground how cramped up some of his muscles had gotten. He'd been practising with candles for what seemed like forever, and they were finally seeing some results. His flame control was getting better!

Despite his want to carry on, he left the room with a little grin playing about his mouth and he made his way to his and Yukio's dorm room. There was no sign of his brother when he got to their room, so he decided to get changed and go to the shops to get something for dinner. Grabbing his wallet and stuffing it into his jeans pocket, the messy haired teen headed out into True Cross Town.

_**x – x – x**_

_Well, there's the first chapter, I wasn't really sure where to end it but it seemed about the right time to cut it off haha. I do apologise if anyone was acting a bit OOC I was writing on a whim xD Shura's rather fun to write though hehe 8D ~_

_Read & review please? I'll hopefully have another chapter soon c:_


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